Sunday, December 6
II Sunday in Advent
Fourth photo from left: Fabrizio da Gentile's Pilgrims visiting Nicholas's tomb in Bari, 1415; and next to it, the tomb itself today.
ST. NICHOLAS OF MYRA [Nicholas of Bari] (Asia Minor [in present Turkey], 270-347)
Bishop, Defender of Orthodoxy, Wonderworker, Holy Hierarch
Arguably the most popular saint in the Orthodox world, legend surrounds the life of this 4th century Bishop of Myra, who was also said to be the most popular saint of the medieval world, next only to the Virgin Mary. In 1027, Italian sailors took his remains from his tomb in Myra to Bari, southeastern Italy, to prevent it from desecration by the Muslims who were slowly conquering the once-mighty Byzantine Empire. His legend as a giftgiver arose from his works of charity as a bishop, most of them done anonymously. This gave rise to the custom of gift-giving on his feast day, starting in the Middle Ages, and persisting today in Europe, and how he came to be conflated into the 19th-century figure of Santa Claus. His casket in Bari exudes a mysterious rose-scented oil much prized by pilgrims that has reputed miraculous powers; to this day, priests in charge of the shrine extract a flask of the 'manna' every year. Both Putin and Medvedev have been to Bari in recent years to venerate his remains. St. Nick's image as Santa Claus (from the Dutch 'Sinter Klaes') began with Dutch descendants in New York City who wished to renew Christmas celebrations in the early 19th century. It became fixed in the popular mind when Clement Moore wrote the poem "The Night before Christmas' in 1822.
OR today.
The Pope on the 60th anniversary of the Federal Republic of Germany
and the 20th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall:
'Responsibility to God is decisive in any political action'
Benedict XVI recalls the violence and oppression of Communism
at a concert Friday to mark the double German anniversary
Other Page 1 stories: The Pope's formal audience with President Koehler of Germany who had offered the concert Friday evening in honor of the Holy Father; the Pope's address to Brazilian bishops on the responsibility of Catholic schools and a warning against continuing danger from the consequences of liberation theology; and in international news, an item anticipating the climate change conference in Copenhagen this week.
THE POPE'S DAY
Angelus today - The Holy Father cited commentary by St. Ambrose, whose feast day is tomorrow, on the Gospel today
in which St. Luke describes John the Baptist bearing the Word of God in preparation for Jesus's public ministry.
On the eve of the Copenhagen conference, he also calls on all men of goodwill to respect the law of God in nature
and the moral dimension of human life in bearing responsibility for safeguarding the environment.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 06/12/2009 16:08]